lawmakers

Our opinion: The state Legislature balks at ethics reform on matters of process, not substance. How long will lawmakers stall on serious efforts to end corruption? Here’s a bit of irony for you, New York: The state Legislature is resisting a push for stronger ethics rules on, of all things, principle. That’s right – a […]
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Say this for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s now-defunct Mandate Relief Council: Perhaps it finally showed that there are no hidden, easy solutions – just hard choices that state leaders won’t make. When the council closed up shop in December, it left little to show for its three years of existence. Last year saw no proposals for […]
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Our opinion: The governor uses the budget to force reform on an unwilling legislature. Will lawmakers argue process, or embrace a worthy cause? —Rock: meet hard place. A Legislature so resistant to ethical reform may finally be forced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to swallow a dose it. Mr. Cuomo, who inexplicably shut down his Moreland […]
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Our opinion: Assembly Democrats are choosing the next speaker largely in secret. Just how is this a step toward winning back public trust? The state Assembly hardly broke a sweat in its latest exercise in democracy. Rather than seize an opportunity to usher in real change with the selection of a new speaker, rank-and-file lawmakers […]
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Now we learn that Adam Lanza did not get the help that was needed and that might have prevented his murderous rampage (“Chances to help were lost as killer evolved,” Nov. 23). Think about it: After the Sandy Hook shootings, there was not one parent who was able to escape the tyranny of imagining his […]
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We should pay all legislators at least $100,000. They should work full time and receive no extras for food, travel or housing. We should also have half as many legislators in both houses. This would mean less staff, less arguing, easier compromises, and more work done to help the people. George Wild Clifton Park
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It would be easy enough to list all the sins of the state Legislature in arguing against a raise for lawmakers. But after 15 years, it’s time to have a real discussion about it. Nobody – well, except perhaps the Legislature – wants to see a raise hatched in a post-election back-room deal that reeks […]
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Our opinion: With another lawmaker accused of filing tens of thousands of dollars in improper expense claims, the public is left to wonder why this system hasn’t been fixed. We’d like to think most state legislators are honest people who don’t need a watchdog looking over their shoulder every time they claim a job-related expense. […]
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New York has all sorts of big problems to grapple with, so what do lawmakers spend the better part of a hour debating? The official state snack, grouses Bill Dowd on his Notes on Napkins blog. The former Knickerbocker News and Times Union editor pulls a vintage column from 1987 on another such silliness: the […]
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